Various Artists – A Nod to Bob 2: An Artists’ Tribute – (Red House)

Just in time to celebrate the 70^th birthday of one Robert Allen Zimmerman, Red House Records has released its second excellent compilation of musicians covering the songs of Bob Dylan.

The celebration, starting off with The Pines’ live rendition of “What Good Am I?,” brings a listener the unique comfort and joy of Dylan’s vocals and lyrics. John Gorka coaxes every melodic nuance from “Just Like a Woman,” and Meg Hutchinson’s gorgeous arrangement of “Born in Time” just might even improve on the original. “Mama, Let Me Lay It On You (Baby, Let Me Follow You Down),” covered here by Hot Tuna, has the recognizable phrasing of a Dylan tune, but performed in a very San Francisco blues-rock sort of way. Other highlights on the set include Pieta Brown’s minimalist stroll through “Dirt Road Blues,” Lucy Kaplansky’s rendition of “Every Grain of Sand,” Danny Schmidt’s tasty finger-picking and vocals on “Buckets of Rain,” Eliza Gilkyson smoothing the wrinkles from a chunkily-paced “Jokerman,” Robin and Linda Williams’ country-fried “Walkin’ Down the Line,” and the stellar “Not Dark Yet” from the incomparable Jimmy LaFave. This collection is Dylan music from an alternate universe: The artfully placed tracks on A Nod to Bob 2 don’t mimic the icon’s sound as much as they spark one’s memory of hearing mainstream folk and ‘60s rock.

The collection does feature a few performers that played the Main Point back in the day (like Robin & Linda Williams, Cliff Eberhardt, and Spider John Koerner), the other found here would surely fit right in at the old place if it were still around today!

The first collection of Dylan covers from Red House Records, which included many of these same artists, was released ten years ago to mark Dylan’s 60^th birthday – Here’s one reviewer that cannot wait to see what they come up with ten more years down the road!